Memo vs. Legal Brief & Legal Brief Requirements

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Two common documents that law professionals will engage with on a regular bases are the legal brief, or court brief, and office memorandum. Both share similarities and differ in several ways. For example, one similarity that these documents possess is with regards to their content; they both possess important information such as the issue(s), relevant facts, legal analysis, and a conclusion. William H. Putman & Jennifer R. Albright, Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing, 499 (4th ed. 2017). The one major difference between these documents is what they are intended to do. A court brief is written with the intention of persuading the court to adopt a position that most favorable to a client. Id. at 500. Meanwhile, an office memo is written with the intention of being an objective analysis of the law that thoroughly addresses both sides of an issue, so that an attorney has a guide on how a court might resolve the issue. Id. 

When legal briefs are sent to their respective court, a set of rules must be taken into consideration that require the brief to be uniform under those rules. For instance, the ninth circuit for the United States Court of Appeals has a set of rules known as the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, which must be considered when writing a court brief. An example of a requirement for a court brief is with regards to the content of the brief. On top of the standard information that is required to be included in a brief, the ninth circuit of appeals requires the brief to contain a statement of jurisdiction, bail and detention status, standard of review, and a statement of related cases. Fed. R. App. P. 28-2 (9th Cir. 2020). Another rule that must be met when submitting a court brief is with regards to the multiple briefs. A party or group of jointly represented parties is limited to filing a single principal or reply brief, even when responding to multiple briefs by other parties.  Fed. R. App. P. 28-5 (9th Cir. 2020).

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